BigRich Posted July 30, 2017 Share Posted July 30, 2017 The guys on the patio last night for whiskeys and cigars. Small nips of a G&M Strathisla and Glengoyne 21 then we did some heavy damage to a SAOS BP Rye, and Peat Monster CS.Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BourbonDude Posted July 30, 2017 Share Posted July 30, 2017 Nice. I haven't had Ledaig in years but have fond memories of it. What is the peat like in this version? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BourbonDude Posted July 30, 2017 Share Posted July 30, 2017 (edited) Port Charlotte Islay Barley. Have not bought a bottle of Port Charlotte in many years, but a friend who likes Islays and the other island malts is working his way thru them and it was time to try this. One thing that stands out, which is the peat has more of a bite, perhaps a slightly bitter or tangy flavor, compared to say, the Ardbeg 10 yr., which, despite it being even more intense on the peat (55 ppm vs. 40 ppm for the PC), has a sweeter character on my palate. It's also sharper for me than the Caol Ila 12 yr. which we tasted recently. But overall, a worthy addition in the "peat monster" category. Edited July 30, 2017 by BourbonDude Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BourbonDude Posted July 31, 2017 Share Posted July 31, 2017 Also got a bottle of the Ardbeg 10 yr. as I have several friends who are learning about single malts who need to try it this point. I haven't tried the other, more expensive Ardbegs. Are any of them more intensely peaty than the 10 yr? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tanstaafl2 Posted July 31, 2017 Share Posted July 31, 2017 Defining what one finds to be more intensely peaty can be a challenge much like defining funk or "hogo" in rum. The 10 gives you the most intense peat of the standard offerings to me. I find the Cory to be an interesting whisky but not sure I would describe it as more intensely peaty. The extra proof never hurts of course! I have pretty much quit trying the more recent releases as I have not found them to be particularly unique or interesting especially for the cost and effort to find. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beasled Posted August 2, 2017 Share Posted August 2, 2017 Speaking of Ardbeg, I've been sipping on this since the British weather is typically horrible at the moment.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BourbonDude Posted August 3, 2017 Share Posted August 3, 2017 I had the Ardbeg Perpetuum today. While there's some complexity to it, overall I didn't find it as impressive as the standard 10 yr. Still a decent dram but the 10 yr. is still the king. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BourbonDude Posted August 3, 2017 Share Posted August 3, 2017 (edited) Just had the Bladnoch lowland 16 yr. Although twice the age of the 8 yr. version that I used to find, it was very similar, if not almost identical in nose and flavor. Very lemony and citrus like as Bladnoch usually is, a bit more intense perhaps than the 8 yr., and of course very smooth. Not much burn if any. Hard to beat the smoothness of a triple distilled lowland at twice the usual aging. Tried it with a friend who is still relatively new to the single malt hobby (about 3 years experience, has tried maybe two dozen malts) and who is a fan of Islays, and he was impressed at how flavorful and nice a lowland could be. Edited August 3, 2017 by BourbonDude Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Journeyman Posted August 3, 2017 Share Posted August 3, 2017 I had a pour of Hibiki 12 last night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clingman71 Posted August 3, 2017 Share Posted August 3, 2017 On 7/25/2017 at 10:47 PM, Clueby said: interested in hearing about that one! I love me some Ardbeg. Is that the 93? That would have been the year I got married. I'll reply with bottle details next time I'm online at home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clueby Posted August 3, 2017 Share Posted August 3, 2017 On 7/31/2017 at 10:03 AM, tanstaafl2 said: Defining what one finds to be more intensely peaty can be a challenge much like defining funk or "hogo" in rum. The 10 gives you the most intense peat of the standard offerings to me. I find the Cory to be an interesting whisky but not sure I would describe it as more intensely peaty. The extra proof never hurts of course! I have pretty much quit trying the more recent releases as I have not found them to be particularly unique or interesting especially for the cost and effort to find. I do find the 10 to be peatier than the other standard lineups Cory and Oogie. Not a fan of Cory but I really like the heavy sherry sweetness that comes with the Oogie mixed with all the peat. I haven't had any of the "special" releases either that I thought warranted the premium over the regular lineup. I saw Perpetuum, Dark Cove, and Kelpie in store today even. They were all around that $120 mark. I can get 10 for $45 and Oogie for $75 so I'll stick with those. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BourbonDude Posted August 4, 2017 Share Posted August 4, 2017 (edited) Scapa 16 year. Very similar to the 12 yr. but that famous chocolatey-like Scapa flavor even more prevalent. In this case it was more like a milk chocolate flavor. Maybe not the great all-rounder it's neighbor Highland Park is but still a fun dram if you love that chocolateness. Edited August 4, 2017 by BourbonDude Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevinbrink Posted August 5, 2017 Share Posted August 5, 2017 Enjoying a pour of Connemara Peated Cask Strength, pretty damn enjoyable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kane Posted August 5, 2017 Share Posted August 5, 2017 Two half pours for the nightcap: Edradour 15 Fairy Flag & Bunnahabhain Moine Oloroso. The Edradour has a very distinctive "soapy" taste, but I think it is actually made better by that. A dark sherry bomb with a bar of soap, a unique bottle! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GaryT Posted August 6, 2017 Share Posted August 6, 2017 Enjoying some CB GKSAB (DBH pick) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevinbrink Posted August 6, 2017 Share Posted August 6, 2017 Amrut Fusion, as good a single malt as I have in the liquor cabinet, probably better than everything except maybe Laphroaig CS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BourbonDude Posted August 6, 2017 Share Posted August 6, 2017 (edited) 23 hours ago, Kane said: Two half pours for the nightcap: Edradour 15 Fairy Flag & Bunnahabhain Moine Oloroso. The Edradour has a very distinctive "soapy" taste, but I think it is actually made better by that. A dark sherry bomb with a bar of soap, a unique bottle! Edradour is fun stuff. It's one of the few malts where there really isn't a typical "house style" because it varies so much--which is part of the fun. But it is famous for that soapy, or as it's sometimes called, lanolin character. Edited August 6, 2017 by BourbonDude Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokinjoe Posted August 6, 2017 Share Posted August 6, 2017 On 8/5/2017 at 1:50 AM, Kane said: Two half pours for the nightcap: Edradour 15 Fairy Flag & Bunnahabhain Moine Oloroso. The Edradour has a very distinctive "soapy" taste, but I think it is actually made better by that. A dark sherry bomb with a bar of soap, a unique bottle! Say Fairy Flag 5X as fast as you can... PS: Do this in private, or you could get some sideways looks... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRich Posted August 6, 2017 Share Posted August 6, 2017 A couple of pours of CBPMCS last night on the patio with a friend and a Macanudo.Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NDN98 Posted August 6, 2017 Share Posted August 6, 2017 14 hours ago, BourbonDude said: Edradour is fun stuff. It's one of the few malts where there really isn't a typical "house style" because it varies so much--which is part of the fun. But it is famous for that soapy, or as it's sometimes called, lanolin character. I too am a huge fan of Edradour distillery. My boss just got back from Scotland and brought back a replacement bottle for my Fairy Flag that I recently polished off. It is a delicious and unique dram for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kane Posted August 6, 2017 Share Posted August 6, 2017 (edited) 7 minutes ago, NDN98 said: I too am a huge fan of Edradour distillery. My boss just got back from Scotland and brought back a replacement bottle for my Fairy Flag that I recently polished off. It is a delicious and unique dram for sure. My bottle's almost polished off, too, and overall I am really impressed. This was my intro to Edradour, thanks to Fedex recently starting to ship liquor from the UK. I am curious to try their well-aged cask strength bottlings next, everyone seems to rave about those online. Edited August 6, 2017 by Kane Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BourbonDude Posted August 6, 2017 Share Posted August 6, 2017 Arran 14 yr. I'd ignored this single for a quarter of a century as I never heard anything about it that was that interesting, compared the other more famous Islay and island malts, which are known for their idiosyncratic and extreme qualities. Just goes to show you what I know. This malt is a keeper, best way I know to describe it is it's sort of like Oban on steroids. Lots of complexity but even more fruit forward on the palette, especially a really wonderful apricot flavor. Wonderful stuff and for me a neglected malt that's really a stand out and deserves to be better known. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BourbonDude Posted August 6, 2017 Share Posted August 6, 2017 (edited) Forgot to mention that with tax it was almost $100 for the bottle. That plus my long standing scepticism meant that it was easy to find overlook compared to some of its neighbors. Edited August 6, 2017 by BourbonDude Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BourbonDude Posted August 7, 2017 Share Posted August 7, 2017 (edited) Tried the Arran 14 yr. again today. Very fruity with that big up front apricot flavor. Reminds me of Oban as I said in my earlier post. A very pleasant and fun dram. Had it with two other friends and they were impressed too. Edited August 7, 2017 by BourbonDude Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tanstaafl2 Posted August 8, 2017 Share Posted August 8, 2017 Arran has done some interesting bottles. They periodically release a single barrel version and various cask finishes. I have a single barrel that is bourbon and one that was a sherry cask. Interesting and tasty but a bit spendy. They also seem fond of doing collectors series of 3 different whiskies like The Devil's Punch Bowl (which I acquired and tried, a touch of peat used in the first two of the series) and the Smugglers Series (which I did not acquire or try). Got to be a pain to chase them down and they seemed to be a little too trendy (as well as spendy for basically mystery whisky) for my taste. Let the "collector" types have 'em! They also had a low level peated expression called Machrie Moor. Not sure if they are still doing that one. It had a dog on the label which seemed appropriate as it tasted a bit like I would think the smell of a wet, shaggy, dirty dog would likely taste... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts